Free films at National Wildlife Refuge Center

Rockland — Friends of Maine’s Seabird Islands will host a free film festival during the week of Jan. 21. Films will be shown in the theater of the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters and Visitor Center, 9 Water St. Each presentation will include a brief introduction to the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge.

Screened Tuesday, Jan. 21, at 2 and 6:30 p.m. will be "Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time," which runs 56 minutes. Aldo Leopold is known as the father of wildlife management and the author of “A Sand County Almanac.” He was a founding member of The Wilderness Society. This film traces his life and career; and explains how his ideas continue to influence the environmental movement.

Screened Wednesday, Jan. 22, at 2 and 6:30 p.m. will be "Forever Wild: Celebrating America’s Wilderness,” which runs 57 minutes. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act. “Forever Wild,” presented by Robert Redford, describes the development of the act, the dedication of those who have persuaded Congress to designate an area, and highlights the spectacular scenery of the wild areas that are protected as wilderness.

Screened Thursday, Jan. 23, at 2 and 6:30 p.m. will be "Journey of the Tiglax," which runs just over a half hour. This film highlights a sister national wildlife refuge in Alaska — the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. The Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge has 58 islands and thousands of seabirds; this vast refuge in Alaska has 2,500 islands and hundreds of thousands of seabirds, including the tufted puffins.

Screened Friday, Jan. 24, at 2 and 6:30 p.m. will be "The Harriman Alaska Expedition Retraced," which runs 110 minutes. In 1899, a railroad tycoon decided to take a vacation. He outfitted a ship, invited 25 writers, scientists and artists and explored 9,000 miles of the Alaskan Coast. In the summer of 2001, Smith College re-enacted this expedition. This film shows the changes that have occurred in Alaska in the last century.

The Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center is housed in the old Captain Snow house, the large white building just behind Triangle Park where Water Street and Route 73/Main Street meet.